


Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down

by goodgirlfaith (boomersoonerash)



Series: Bite Sized Fics [41]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - The Walking Dead Fusion, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, California, Camping, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Community: comment_fic, Crying Harry, F/F, Femslash, Friendship, Horror, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspired by The Walking Dead, M/M, Male Slash, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Break Up, Prompt Fic, Slash, Survival Horror, Thriller, Work In Progress, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-20
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 05:20:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8088784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boomersoonerash/pseuds/goodgirlfaith
Summary: Louis and Harry are separated when the apocalypse strikes. Not just physically but also they have been broken up for a year now.Harry is in a community in California that is relatively safe while the rest of the world crumbles and Louis, well Louis is on the road with Liam and Niall and a girl they saved along the way, heading to California to find Harry.But will the two ex-lovers ever get the chance to reunite in person as well as giving their relationship another go?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tigriswolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/gifts).



> So this fic was only supposed to be a one-shot but then it got away from me. I don't know how long it will be yet but I don't think it's going to be relatively long chapter wise...maybe. Time will tell.
> 
> This is also like my millionith Zombie Apocalypse AU(I'm Kidding) but I do have a lot that I write because I love this genre even if I think I may suck at writing action scenes and at world building. But I try and practice makes perfect so ha.
> 
> I hope you guys like this though and please comment or kudos to let me know you're reading. I love hearing and seeing that I have readers.
> 
> Title comes from Work Song by Hozier as well as Ain't No Grave by Johnny Cash. Both lovely for a zombie apocalypse au.
> 
> written for this prompt at comment_fic on lj: RPF, Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Walking Dead AU - "Never thought I'd travel so much after the world ended."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Excerpt: "What's the matter Tommo? What's keeping you up?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This is a fictional story. None of this story is true and I am in no way associated with One Direction. I do own any original characters. Also, please do not translate this unless you ask me for permission first. Thanks!

Louis sighed softly as he laid back on the cot in the tent he was sleeping in, somewhere on the outskirts of Oklahoma. A place he hadn't expected to be. But then again there was a lot of things he hadn't been expecting that had happened lately.

Like the virus that had started bringing the dead back to life. A virus that had started during One Direction's last tour before the hiatus and one that had put a wrench in their plans of finishing the tour as well as living any sort of normal life.

The only normal now was running from the dead and trying to find some place safe to sleep at night and food to eat. It was a normal that Louis was adjusting too, had to adjust to really if he was honest with himself. He didn't want to die, not yet anyway and he surely didn't want to become one of those monsters when he did die.

A fact that probably scared him more than dying to be honest. Losing who he was inside and becoming the literal walking dead.

There had been time all through his life he had felt like the physical walking dead, some here lately with all the constant running and just trying to survive. But he'd take that feeling over being the literal.

"Niall, you awake?" Louis asked softly as he turned to look at Niall, who was sleeping on the cot next to him. Liam having chosen to take watch with a girl they had ran across a day ago when they had entered Arkansas.

"Kind of hard to sleep with you sighing mournfully over there," Niall muttered out with a slight laugh and Louis liked that somehow in the face of everything the Irishman had been able to keep his wits about him. "What's the matter Tommo? What's keeping you up?"

Louis chewed on his lip as he thought over Niall's words. "What isn't keeping me up anymore," he admitted before frowning. "Never thought I'd travel so much after the world ended."

Niall laughed again as he sat up on his cot, "You thought about the world ending before it actually did?" he asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.

"Sometimes yeah," Louis nodded with a bit of a smile though it was bittersweet. "Never thought I'd still alive to be honest."

"Oh please Tommo," Niall muttered a bit sarcastically as he stood from his cot and walked over to Louis' laying down beside him and Louis didn't reprimand him. "You'll out last me and Liam both," he spoke and Louis hated how serious Niall sounded, mainly because he didn't want to out last anyone at least not his friends.

He wanted them all to survive this and last until whenever it ended. They all deserved that after everything.

"You think I'll out last him?" Louis finally asked not even daring to say the name of the other band member. A boy who had, had to fly out to California at the start of it all, before things really went to shit because his own sister had been one of the first infected and he had wanted to be with her, because like everyone else at first when it started, he had been hopeful for a cure.

Harry was hopeful if anything else and Louis was sure it was one of the many reasons he loved Harry, had always loved him even after they had broke up. Now he only wished he had told him sooner, wished they had made the decision to come out like they were supposed to together and maybe..well maybe they'd be together and Louis wouldn't be on a mission to go to California and find the boy who he still loved.

A boy he hoped was still alive and maybe out there trying to find him as well.

"You two are going to be the last two alive in the whole world probably," Niall finally spoke breaking the silence between them as his arm went around Louis' waist and Louis wasn't sure if Niall was telling him that just to tell him that or if Niall himself actually believed it.

Either way it did seem to ease Louis' troubled mind some. A mind that sometimes liked to tell him that it was futile hoping that he'd see Harry again. That Harry was already dead and gone and they'd never see each other again, or if they did it would be Louis running upon Harry who was now one of those monsters.

Louis was sure he probably couldn't handle Harry being one of those monsters, just like he couldn't handle being one himself. Though if Harry were dead, Louis was sure he'd probably willingly die too just to join him.

But God if Harry wasn't dead and they did find each other, Louis knew he'd do what he should have done so long ago. He'd tell Harry how much he still loved him and that he was an idiot for letting him go, an idiot for running from the truth and wanting to come out.

He was just a plain fucking idiot and maybe everything happening right now was karma's way of laughing at him. Having the world end and split up him and Harry, possibly for good. Do what their management had always wanted and hoped.

Hearing Niall start to snore in the silence that had fallen around them again, Louis smiled faintly as he leaned in to kiss Niall on the forehead.

"Sleep well you Irish lad," he muttered on his skin before pulling away and closing his own eyes, hoping he could get some sleep in before Liam or the female named Beatrice came to ask him or Niall one to take their shift on watch so that they too could sleep.

Then tomorrow once they were all rested, they'd begin their journey west again, heading towards California all because Louis said so. All because Louis wanted to find his Harry...his home.

***

Harry curled his legs to his chest as he sat on the balcony of the apartment where he had taken up residence. It was an apartment that had been cleared out in a small little community in California. A community that was still thriving even while the rest of the world was falling apart and one that Harry was thankful that he had found.

Mainly because he wasn't so sure he'd survive out there on his own. It was no secret he had survival techniques. Had no defenses to save himself or defend himself against the roamers, the dead things that feasted and thrived on human flesh.

But a part of him almost wished he was out there and not chickenshit because he could feel it in his gut that Louis was out there. That somehow the strong man that he still very much deeply loved even after a year of being broken up was still alive and kicking and probably fighting to live, while Harry was comfortable or as comfortable as he could be in this nice apartment that had once belonged to someone else who was probably dead by now.

"Harry?" a questioning voice asked as the sliding glass door to the balcony opened and Harry turned to see his mom, the woman who had been with him ever since he arrived in California came outside. "Shouldn't you be asleep. It's late."

Harry visibly sighed at his mom's words and concern, "I should be," he admitted with a nod of his head. "But I just..I keep thinking of Lou tonight," he frowned as he felt a few tears go down his cheek and he reached up to wipe them away in a hurry. "I'm afraid I'll never see him again mum."

Anne slowly walked a bit closer before sitting down next to Harry on the balcony, "You still love him don't you?" she asked as she rested a hand on his back and rubbed it softly, the action only soothing his emotional wounds slightly.

"Of course I do," Harry spoke as he let out a bitter laugh. "Still love him even if he'll never be comfortable being out with me....still love him even though he could be dead or out there somewhere fighting for his life. Miles away from me and I may never see him again...afraid we'll never cross paths and I'll never get to tell him I still love him. That I never moved on because I can't. He was and is it for me."

Anne fell silent at that though she stayed rubbing his back and Harry knew why she was silent. Because right now she didn't have the words to ease his fears of never seeing Louis. Not when she had seen what the world was like. Not when she had lost her oldest daughter and her husband Robin.

So of course his mom knew there was nothing she could do or say that could help and maybe Harry appreciated that. It was better than being given a false promise that was probably slim to none.

"Just get in bed soon darling," Anne finally spoke as she gave Harry's back a few more rubs before standing up. "You promised Toby you'd go on that run with her to a nearby baby store to get things for Cate's impending birth," she reminded him, referring to their neighbors in the apartment next door.

A lesbian couple who were having their first baby that was due any day now and Harry had maybe volunteered himself over dinner to go with Toby to get baby supplies since she and Cate had left all theirs behind when they had been forced to evacuate their house.

Harry only nodded his head in response because he knew he had to get to bed soon. Especially since the prospect of going out made him nervous because since the first few days of the major outbreak, he hadn't been out much. 

He and his mom had found this community on day three and he had been content staying in, which maybe his guilt for that was why he had volunteered....that and maybe doing something dangerous, living and fighting to live would make him feel closer to Louis somewhat.

As weird as it was, it was all he had, all he'd ever have maybe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Excerpt: What were the odds they'd actually find each other again in a world that was fallen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this has been so long in the making. I got busy with other stories and I also just got blocked on where to go next. I hope people still read and I am hoping my next update isn't so long. If you read please comment or kudos as both are lovely.

Harry looked around cautiously as he walked down the aisles of the baby store. He and Toby had split up once in the store. Only having to clear out a few of the dead roamers.

Store employees who had locked themselves in after getting bitten. All of them opting to spend their remaining time here in the place where they worked. Which was just rather twisted in Harry's opinion, though, he had only had one real job before One Direction.

He had worked in a bakery and he was half sure he'd never want to be trapped there in roamer form. Never really wanted to be a mindless roamer who ate human flesh to survive but being stuck in the hell hole where one worked was torture too even in death.

"Harry?" Toby's voice asked and Harry blushed as he turned his head to look at the tall, blonde beside him. Having been too lost in his thoughts to hear her come up beside him.

"Yeah?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow half wondering what she had wanted.

"I was asking which mobile is better?" Toby asked as she held out two mobiles for him to see. One had animals on it and the other musical notes. "Cate and I never found out what we're having so I decided gender neutral is best. It's what we had at home."

Harry gave Toby a sad smile as she talked about life before all this. Harry knowing if this had never happened he'd never know Toby or her wife. Both women who he had grown close too.

"Go for the musical notes."

Toby shook her head, "I knew you'd say that pop star," she teased him with a shake of her head before moving to put the other mobile up.

Harry following behind her. His bag that he had wrapped around one arm full of canned formula, some onesies, and a few small toys.

"I'm predictable I know," he deadpanned as he slowed down when they reached where Toby had gotten the mobile from. "Most people love that about me," he teased because most people hated how predictable he was.

Louis had never hated it though. It was one thing the boy had loved about him.

"I'm sure they do," Toby retorted as if she didn't believe him at all. "I think that's everything basically," she sighed as she stayed standing in place. "Cate was able to find a bassinet in one of the empty apartments were we live so we're fine on a place for the baby to sleep for now."

"What about diapers?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. "Babies go through diapers like they're going out of style or something."

Toby paused as she looked at him and she looked like she was generally thinking over if she and Cate had diapers or not. An action that told Harry they probably didn't have diapers, something that wanted to make him laugh.

He wanted to laugh at Toby's forgetfulness mainly because it reminded him of himself and how Louis had always teased him that if they ever had a baby some day, he'd be the one to forget simple things like diapers. There was just no way Louis would be able to forget it.

He had been raised around babies and all thanks to being the oldest of so many kids.

Now Harry wished Louis were here so he could gloat. Tell him he could remember simple things like diapers but the sad reality was Louis wasn't here and Harry would probably never see his ex again.

What were the odds they'd actually find each other again in a world that was fallen?

"No," Toby finally stated. "We don't have diapers," she sighed as she handed Harry the mobile which he took. "Stay here and I'll go and get some diapers. Then we should be good to go," she told him and Harry didn't miss the sad look in her eye.

Harry wondering if the woman knew that before all this the baby would have had much more than what she and Harry had gathered on their run.

That the baby Cate would deliver in the coming weeks was getting slim pickings when it came to things. Then again maybe her mind had wandered somewhere dark. To other possibilities that even Harry himself didn't want to entertain like how babies probably weren't suited for this new world.

Yet at least for now it'd be sorta safe in the small thriving community they had. But who knew how long that would last?

It could easily get overrun or taken over by dangerous people.

But again Harry didn't want to think about bad things. Not right now. He'd save the bad things for tonight when his mind would again wander to Louis.

Entertain the what if's of his survival or his death.

***

"You ever think about it?" Toby asked in the silence that had built on the car ride back to the community. Harry turning his head as he looked at her with confusion. Something she must have read on his face because she soon clarified what she meant.

"I mean did you ever think about having a baby before the world went to shit?"

Swallowing hard Harry looked down at his jeans. His mind once again going to Louis and the countless times they had talked about such things when they were together.

How both of them had just known they wanted a family one day. It was something they'd never get now sadly.

Looking back up Harry nodded his head though he did his best to avoid looking at Toby. "Yeah, I thought about it with an ex," he revealed because of course even though he loved Toby and Cate he hadn't told them about Louis.

There was no way he'd out Louis like that. Not when Louis had been so adamant about not coming out.

Adamant enough that it had been the reason they broke up.

"That ex you always get wistful about when you talk about them to Cate?" Toby questioned and Harry blushed. Hating that he was so weak for Louis that Cate could see it when she talked about him.

Hated that she had exposed him like that to her wife.

Again Harry nodded his head, his blush growing slightly. "Same ex," he confirmed as he forced a smile.

It was a sad smile but it was still a smile.

Toby went silent for a bit which eased Harry's mind but he should have known it wouldn't last long. Should have known she'd pry more.

"The ex dead now?" she asked so casually that somehow the question alone hurt him.

Harry swallowed hard as he took a deep breath, "I don't know," he admitted answering the only way he knew how. "We...I had to leave to come to California because my sister was sick and I never saw them again."

"I'm sorry," Toby apologized, Harry hearing sincerity in her voice. "I'd like to believe if they are the one somehow in this messed up world they'll come back to you."

"Me too," Harry said as he nodded his head though his words sounded hollow because his belief in anything right now was flimsy.

He was just going to slowly give up on ever seeing Louis again. Best if he did so he didn't get hurt when it never happened.


End file.
